Lovino ended up finding himself at work and sober. He could hardly keep himself awake, let alone tolerate his constant migraines and nausea. The only decent freedom from his intolerable symptoms was taking a sip of flavoured vodka and smoking cigarettes on his breaks. While on one of these breaks, an albino man approached him. He wasn't an employee, but was smoking at the stand.
"Ciao," he greets him casually, "Got a lighter? I just ran out."
Lovino nodded and handed him his. "Haven't seen you around this shitty town before. Are you visiting?" he asked conversationally.
The man nodded as he lit his cigarette, soon handing back the lighter. "Visit'n family. I'm from Germany," he informed, taking a deep inhale.
"Ah. Um, you don't happen to be related to, uh, Ludwig… Are you?" Lovino nervously asked.
"Hm? Ja, he's my little, huge, brother," he informed. "Why?" Gilbert asked curiously.
Lovino shrugged casually, trying to appear as calm as he was not. "He's a familiar acquaintance…" he murmured.
"Really? Huh, small world. He doesn't cause too much trouble around here, does he?" Gilbert played in a teasing tone. "Actually, do you know where I can find him this time of day? He wasn't home and didn't answer my calls earlier. I know the bastard's busy, but I didn't come all this way just to spend five minutes at a bar," he grumbled light-heartedly.
"Uh, no… But, my shift ends in a few minutes if you'd want to waste some time until then," Lovino offered, hoping to get something out of this guy after a day of earning an unlawfully low pay.
"Sure, why not," he shrugged. "My treat," Gilbert offered since if this man worked at a tiny convenience store, he probably was not getting paid very much.
"Sounds good to me. Meet me back here in an hour, okay?" he suggested, snubbing out his cigarette before discarding it.
Gilbert nodded, still working on his. "See ya later, cutie," he cooed playfully as Lovino left.
Lovino felt a shiver run up his spine at the name, yet he wasn't sure whether it was from disgust or from want. During his last hour of break, he swore to himself that he wouldn't begin to fuck both of the Beilschmidt brothers when just the one was more than overwhelming to put up with without the sex.
Later, the two found themselves at a nearby bar, chatting away. Gilbert would occasionally get a little flirty, but Lovino continuously played innocent- which both found incredibly fun.
"Seriously, though," Gilbert started as he paid the bartender, "We should hangout again. What's your number?"
Lovino shrugged to himself, thinking, 'Fuck it. It's not like this counts as cheating,' and gave Gilbert his mobile number. Soon, they parted and Lovino actually found himself excited to have become friends with the guy, despite him being Ludwig's brother. It was great how different he was from Ludwig, yet not better than finally coming home not higher than the Tower of Pisa or exhausted from sex. It wasn't the easiest to deny the opportunity to make more money this night, but Lovino would get used to it during his brief period of sobriety (until after Saturday).
At home, Lovino walked home, paling for the second time today, at the sight of Antonio and… his brother and Ludwig's fiancé, Feliciano chatting in the kitchen.